Wycliffe Associates, one of the world’s leading Bible translation organizations, is using computer tablets to develop new languages.
In regions where Christians risk intense persecution and even death because of their faith, Wycliffe is helping believers translate the Bible for their language communities through its Tablets for National Translators initiative.
By providing computer tablets loaded with translation software, Wycliffe Associates is providing the technology that allows Christians to safely hide their translation efforts in plain sight as well as securely back up their work.
“I’m looking at an astonishing number of requests for tablets from believers in distant lands, places where people have been waiting, hoping, praying—for generations,” says Tim Neu, Interim President and CEO of Wycliffe Associates. “Our tablets change the equation.”
Based in Orlando, Florida, Wycliffe Associates is an international organization that empowers mother-tongue Bible translators and partners with local churches in the advancement of Bible translation.
“With our translation strategy, they can perform the task themselves. All they need is the technology and training,” says Neu.
Wycliffe Associates preloads each tablet with translation software, equipping mother-tongue Bible translators with $300 worth of technology they need to carry out their work discreetly in places of intense, anti-Christian persecution.
Here’s how excited people are about their new translations!
“No missionaries have been able to penetrate these places,” says Neu. “For an American to go there now would be very dangerous.”
In addition to providing a measure of safety for the translators, computer tablets give them access to an online library of translation resources and make it possible for them to work collaboratively with other translators as well as upload and store their work securely in the cloud.
And once the translators complete their work, they’re able to immediately duplicate, print, and share the newly translated Scriptures.
“Without tablets, translators must translate by hand, slowly and painstakingly,” Neu says.
To date, Wycliffe Associates has distributed 6,402 computer tablets in 67 countries through its Tablets for National Translators program.
Wycliffe Associates has facilitated the start of Bible translations in more than 1,000 languages and has seen the completion of 427 New Testaments through Church Owned Bible Translation efforts.
–Metro Voice
